By bike over the Hahntennjoch: Bad Wörishofen – Reutte – Imst

From the Allgäu over a Tyrolean pass. About 147 km by bike from the Kneipp spa town of Bad Wörishofen through the Ostallgäu, past the lake Forggensee and Füssen, over the border to Reutte in Tyrol, and up the Lech valley to the Hahntennjoch, a pass at 1,894 m, down to Imst in the Inn valley (800 m). The last stretch leads towards Ötz. About 1,600 m of climbing, concentrated in the last third.

The route. Bad Wörishofen – Marktoberdorf – Füssen / Schwangau – Reutte – Stanzach – Hahntennjoch – Imst.

On the way. Bad Wörishofen is the town where Sebastian Kneipp developed his water cure. Near Füssen and Schwangau stand the castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, above Forggensee. Reutte is the capital of the Ausserfern district of Tyrol. The Lech valley is a wide river valley with the Lechtal Alps on both sides. The Hahntennjoch has long, steep ramps and many bends: it is one of the classic climbs for road cyclists in the region.

Good to know. The pass road is closed by snow from about November to May. It is steep (up to 11–14 %) and narrow in places, with motorbike traffic on weekends; start early and carry warm clothes for the descent. The music is Tyrolean.

Picture: The Hahntennjoch road, Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.